Editorial Newsday 2 Hrs Ago Finance Minister Colm Imbert – SUREASH CHOLAI A BUDGET is normally the most important policy statement by a government in any given year, but Monday’s presentation by Finance Minister Colm Imbert will go down in history as the first budget to be all but eclipsed by a social media outage. Such is the new normal that many people were more preoccupied for hours with the effects of WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook going dark than they were with the minister’s speech. That presentation, ironically, saw Mr Imbert place much emphasis on what he described as “digital transformation.” Free WiFi service is to be expanded to all schools, libraries, transport hubs, health sites; digital wallets will be introduced; a national digital ID system is coming. “While we might be perceived as being behind in the digital ID race, we wish to get right this digital transformation process,” Mr Imbert said. “Our objective is for TT to become a model for the region.” We have heard grand announcements like this before. Without more concrete steps being taken to address the complex and multi-faceted issues faced by citizens who now have little choice but to rely on information communications…
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When WhatsApp goes down – Trinidad and Tobago Newsday
